Help me understand some stuff in tonight's episode of Mad Men. Major spoilers inside, of course.

I'm very confused about how Don's partnership terms work in season 7. He was "on leave" then wanted to come back. During the sans-Don partner meeting, we discovered that they couldn't get rid of him without buying out his shares (which would take 3 years), so they allowed him to come back last week with major conditions (no drinking, no being alone with clients, reporting to Lou). He agrees and will forfeit his shares if he fails to comply with the conditions.

OK, Don's gonna do what Don's gonna do (he desperately wants to go back to work), but:
- If he quit now, could he keep his shares?
- What if he followed their conditions but didn't do any work? If they fired him for something else, could he keep his shares?
- What if nothing was written down about these conditions? Would the other partners still be able to force him out?
- Does anyone here remember the percentages of the partnership?

(I admit I watched this episode hoping for a way for Don to grab a loophole and get back on top.)

As far as the details of the partnership, the show has never been particularly forthcoming on that issue.posted by megatherium at 3:59 AM on May 5, 2014

They have never spelled out Don's share of the profits of the "new" Sterling Cooper they formed after walking away from their English acquirer, to say the least of the shares post merger with Ted etc. 10-15% is a good guess, assuming that Don had a bigger than equal slice when SCDP was formed.

The "stipulations" had to be in writing to be enforceable. They probably didn't want to use screen time to show that.posted by MattD at 4:57 AM on May 5, 2014

Joan got 5%. Then Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce merged with Cutler Gleason & Chaough to form Sterling Cooper & Partners, so I have no idea Don’s current stake.posted by editorgrrl at 7:33 AM on May 5, 2014

« Older How to maintain motivation for self-improvement? | The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air Newer »

Tags

Share

About Ask MetaFilter

Ask MetaFilter is a question and answer site that covers nearly any question on earth, where members help each other solve problems. Ask MetaFilter is where thousands of life's little questions are answered.